A Shattered Chalice
by Lucivar Yaslana
Summary: Tersa is a Shattered Chalice. But what of the time before the opening chapter in Daughter of The Blood? What happened to the once proud Tersa to shatter her mind? Pull up a seat, get comfortable, and let's find out together shall we?
1. A Beginning

Authors note: This is set before the opening chapter of Daughter of The Blood

_Italics denote conversation through a Psychic Thread or private thoughts_

I do not own any of the characters from the Black Jewels Trilogy. That honour goes to Anne Bishop. Nor do I own any of the places mentioned in this story.

* * *

**A Beginning**

Tersa hummed lightly to herself as she made her way down the country lane that led to her home. She was tired after a long night weaving webs, learning the craft that was the province of the Hourglass Coven, but she was also satisfied. She was almost ready to take her Journeywoman's test and was looking forward to the challenge of doing so, regardless of the pitfalls that could befall an arrogant apprentice.

Tersa had been an apprentice for so long now, it was becoming painful. She had mastered the art of weaving with startling speed, even for one who was born to the Hourglass such as she was and having to go over the same old exercises was wearing her patience down. Moving at a steady pace she made her way to her home, wanting nothing more than a hot bath before slipping between the comforting warmth of her bedsheets.

Finally, reaching her home without mishap, Tersa gratefully shut the door behind her and hung her cloak up on one of the pegs in her hallway before scuttling towards the fire in the sitting room to reclaim some of the warmth lost in the short trip from the coven. Sitting in the chair before the fire, Tersa added a couple of logs to the banked flames, letting them rise again to envelop the room in its warmth and allowed herself to slip into a daydream. She closed her deep blue eyes and allowed pleasant memories of Alexander to wash through her mind.

Alexander was a Green Jeweled Warlord she had been walking out with and while she may have had more strength than he had, he certainly made her smile with his witty little quips and his delightful way of making even her most depressive mood lift before it could take root fully. Slowly the warmth began to penetrate her cold skin and so, before she could be lulled toward sleep, she stood up to begin preparing the bath she had promised herself.

Moving into the bathroom, Tersa took off her spidersilk dress and carefully folded it before vanishing it to a chest in her bedroom. Turning the dials on the edge of the tub, Tersa called in a vial of bath salts that she liberally applied to the water that was filling the tub. Waiting impatiently for the tub to fill, she turned her mind to what dress she should wear for the next time she could go shopping with Alexander.

She smiled to herself as she remembered his stalwart attempts at carrying all her bags while on a particularly big shopping trip a couple of weeks ago. Remembering the scene and the look upon his face as he tried to keep it schooled in a perfectly nonchalant expression while struggling under the weight of so many purchases caused a small smile to dance about her lips.

Coming back to the present, Tersa turned off the taps and, with a little gasp at the temperature of the water as it hit some spots of skin that hadn't warmed fully; she carefully extended her legs, and lay back in the tub, blissfully unaware of anything except that her cold body was finally heating up.

"You'd think on a night like this they would have cancelled the lesson" she grumbled to herself as she called in some soap and began lathering herself.

Taking care not to scrub herself too hard and cause the scratches on her hands to sting, Tersa carefully washed away the day's dirt, critically examining herself as she did so. Tersa looked at her hands and sighed, she could have easily healed the scratches but the Head Sister of the coven had been drumming it into her head that she should save her craft for something that really needed it, not for day to day worries. Flexing her fingers she smiled again at the way the snake tooth slid out easily from beneath her long nails, the one thing that set her apart from ordinary Blood.

She shook her head, retracted the snake tooth and continued to soap the rest of her body. She had to admit she was pretty trim, some might even say lithe but Tersa knew better than to try and fool herself. She continued her self analysis. Above her flat stomach, she had pert breasts that Alexander couldn't seem to take his eyes off but to her, they were just two lumps she had to put up with and got in the way sometimes. Although, she did enjoy catching Alexander out when he was staring at them and not listening to her.

Finishing her bath she stepped out of the tub and called in one of her older towels, one that still felt fluffy despite the number of times it had been washed, and began to dry herself. Tersa gave a little smirk as she thought of how Alexander had completely ignored Alia the other day when they had been out walking through the public gardens. Alia thought that she would be a perfect match for Alexander regardless of his obvious affection for Tersa and tried every means available to her to try and win him.

So far her efforts had failed miserably, and it gave Tersa no small satisfaction to see that failure regardless of how many times she told herself she shouldn't feel so happy at another's misery. Having dried herself, she walked over to the reflecting glass and studied her face. Young and smooth, her skin was at times, almost like porcelain and for this she was thankful for she had seen no small number of young women plagued by acne that marred their faces. A nose that was slightly off centre annoyed her slightly but she was too proud to try and change it or hide it with a disguise spell.

Tersa couldn't be called classically beautiful but there was something striking about her, something that called for her to be looked at and she knew it. Eyes that looked like the deepest ocean looked back at her and she could see the mirth twinkling behind them, laughing at her self examination.

Turning away, Tersa dropped the now wet towel into the hamper and called in her robe, moving into the adjoining bedroom as she did so. It was a simple room with a medium sized four poster bed with a trunk at the end for personal effects such as her web holders as well as a bedside table for her few pieces of jewelry and late night reading when she couldn't sleep. Turning to the corner of the room, she moved to the stand that held her favourite music globe and turned it on, enjoying the calm that washed over her at the restful sounds of the forest that were a part of the haunting music.

Tersa, despite appearances, was a simple woman and this room was her haven. She hated adornments and so, deliberately kept out most of the fripperies some of her sisters had in theirs such as lace edged bedsheets or rows upon rows of cosmetics, all that promised to help the wearer look younger for longer. Instead she preferred to have a place that would allow her to sleep restfully, rather than a place where her eye would be caught by one thing or another that would then cause her to start thinking and worrying.

Closing the curtains that had been admitting the cool night breeze, Tersa moved to her bed with its wonderfully warm blankets. Removing her robe she called in her nightgown and slipped it on before climbing into the bed. She settled the bedclothes around her, adding a little energy to the warming spell she had already placed on them so the warmth would last most of the night. Turning out the lights with a flicker of craft, Tersa turned over and snuggled into the blankets and, with a little satisfied smile still dancing around her lips, she slowly fell asleep, lulled by the quiet music that was still playing to the lonely night.


	2. Chapter One

"Damn and blast" Tersa swore as she looked at the tangled remains of her web. She had no idea what had gone wrong with the weaving but she knew it shouldn't have happened.

"I've warned you before Tersa, about what will happen if you rush things. Overconfidence is a vanity that we in the Hourglass cannot afford"

Tersa looked up from her web at her tutor Lady Amelie, startled by the sudden interjection. Trying to look contrite, Tersa tried to bite her tongue against the rebuke.

"Yes Lady Amelie" she managed to say.

"Start the web again and _this _time try and pay attention" Lady Amelie said exasperated at Tersa's lack of attention "Surely you can put Alexander out of your mind for that long?"

Without waiting for an answer, Lady Amelie turned away to another student who was still struggling with the very basics of constructing a web. Tersa bowed her head, trying to hide the insidious warmth creeping across her cheeks.

'_How can she say I wasn't paying attention? I was!'_

Beginning her web again, Tersa silently continued to rail against Amelie's words.

'_She knows I'm the best they've had in centuries, she knows I wouldn't make a simple mistake'_

Looking up again, Tersa caught a small, malevolent smile playing across Alia's face at the table across from her and knew what had gone wrong. Tersa sighed softly to herself. Sometimes you just couldn't win no matter how much you tried to be nice to other people. She would be more than thankful when this lesson ended, at least then she could get away from that little sneak who seemed determined to do anything she could to get back at Tersa.

It seemed like an age had passed by the time Tersa had reconstructed her web and this time, just in case, she had placed a shield around it so that Alia couldn't ruin it again. Smiling like a cat that got the cream, Tersa respectfully raised her hand to catch Amelie's attention.

"Yes Tersa?" Amelie asked when she finally noticed Tersa's hand.

"I've finished the web Lady Amelie"

Amelie walked around the table and began to inspect Tersa's web, occasionally prodding a strand here and there and making occasional noises of approval as she did so.

"Not bad. Not bad at all" Amelie said when she had finished her inspection. "However, you should take a little more care when you hook the strands to the frame, a couple seem to be loose and I know you are more careful than that"

Tersa, despite the small criticism, smiled a little at the fact that her web had held up to inspection.

"Yes Lady Amelie" Tersa said trying to sound humble. It didn't wash with Amelie who knew her wayward student all too well.

"You are dismissed for tonight Tersa, but I expect you to read chapter seven of Hogarth's Treatises by next week"

Tersa, elated by the chance to get away before the other girls, curtseyed to Lady Amelie.

"Yes Lady Amelie" She said before gathering her things and leaving the workroom as fast as she could without seeming rude.

Stepping into the cool night air, Tersa was relieved that she wouldn't have to face listening to Alia's snide remarks as she stood with her friends. Tersa wasn't a spiteful girl but there were times that she wished she was because darkness knew, Alia deserved payback if anybody did.

Pulling the neck of her cloak tighter to keep the chill out, Tersa turned away from the studio that housed the workroom for Hourglass apprentices and began to walk home.

* * *

"BOO!!"

Tersa shrieked and immediately erected a shield before making a brilliant ball of witchlight.

"Who's there?!" she shouted, ready to attack anything that so much as breathed in her direction. Stepping out from behind a tree, Alexander bowed his head and looked at her through his lashes.

"I'm sorry Tersa, I didn't mean to scare you" he said

Tersa, more annoyed now than scared, shouted at him.

"What on earth was going through that mind of yours? Jumping out at people at night? I could've killed you, you ninny"

"I said I'm sorry" he mumbled, his face assuming a hangdog expression, "I didn't realise you wouldn't sense me."

It was Tersa's turn to colour up.

"I…I had other things on my mind" she stuttered

Alexander, in spite of himself, smiled at her with a leer.

"Anything interesting?" he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her.

Tersa laughed at him. "Not you if that's what you're thinking. Come on, you may as well walk me the rest of the way home now that you're here".

Linking her arm in his, they continued the walk to Tersa's house. They walked in amiable silence a ways while Tersa gave him sideways glances. Alexander really was a handsome man all things considered. Dark brown hair, swept away from his face by the wind made him look a little wild, but then, that appealed to her and his beautiful green eyes were always dancing with laughter regardless of how grave a situation could be. The only thing that marred his appearance a little was a broken nose, a token from a schoolyard fight, but to Tersa, it made him look a little more rugged and enhanced his overall attractiveness.

"Darkness to in Tersa" Alexander said, waving his hand in front of her face.

She jumped back a little to avoid the hand. "What?"

"I said, would you like to go shopping again next week?" Alexander tried to stifle his laughter at her surprised expression.

"You still want to go shopping with me? After last time?"

Alexander put on his proudest expression. "I don't care what you say, those bags were _not_ too heavy. I could've carried those and more!" he boasted.

Tersa's eyes narrowed as she struggled not to laugh. "Really? So red is the new fashion among Warlords is it? Or how about that wonderful shade of purple?"

"Ok I give in!" he laughed "They_ were_ a little heavy, but that doesn't mean I don't want to go shopping with you again"

Tersa smiled at him. "Alright then" she said "If you think you can handle it, I'd like to go shopping the day after tomorrow, I heard that there are some wonderful new dresses at Cynthia's"

Having reached Tersa's house, Alexander turned with a small groan.

"Cynthia's? Again? You _know_ if we go there all the shop assistants will stare again"

Tersa tried not to laugh but failed. "B…but you _know_ you love all those simpering airheads paying attention to you" she managed to get out before laughter got the better of her.

"Humph!" he grumped "Maybe I should take you back to _my_ favourite shop. Maybe we might bump into that fluttering little man who couldn't get enough of your oh so graceful presence"

That shut Tersa up.

"Alright then, not Cynthia's but that doesn't mean you get out of carrying those bags!"

"It's a date then" Alexander said before taking his leave of Tersa who spent the rest of the night smiling to herself as she pottered around her house.


End file.
